You may have heard of the Ferrari P4/5, a one-off based on the Enzo, commissioned by a billionaire enthusiast. That car cost him $5 million.

Some of the 1930’s Bugatti’s at Pebble Beach fetch in the $4-$5 million range.

This Pur Sang is, after-all, one of only 5 in existence (basically one for each continent), and may go on to be the most capable road-car ever produced, and for a few lifetimes even: as alternate-energy, fuel-efficiency and environmental-friendliness dominate and dictate vehicle design, I really don’t think we’ll ever see a road-going 1,001 hp car ever again. We certainly will not see a 16-cylinder car ever again either. Nor a 400 km/h car (~250mph) car.

Nothing like the Veyron has ever existed, and, very plausibly, nothing ever will.

All in all, I’m starting to think $4.8M is actually a decent investment, Warren Buffet’s advice notwithstanding.

FWIW, the car does nothing for me emotionally (but ask me how I felt when I saw a Carrera GT zoom past me on a mountain road — whoa!).

However, not every literal translation is an accurate translation. It would not necessarily be correct to translate “guts” from English into “intestines” in another language, if the word guts is used in the sense of fortitude and courage.

Pur-sang in French has the idiomatic meaning of Thoroughbred. [see below] I am sure that is the meaning that Ettore Bugatti intended when he applied the term to his automobiles. Most of the early Bugattis were racing cars, the analogy of Thoroughbreds, which are race horses, was what he was undoubtedly trying to achieve.

Le Pur-sang anglais (Thoroughbred en anglais) est une race équine. L’appellation officielle est pur-sang, l’abréviation officielle est PS, l’appellation pur-sang anglais étant, aux yeux des puristes, un pléonasme.

Translation:

The Pur-sang anglais (Thoroughbred in English) is a breed of horses. The official name is “pur-sang“, and the official abbreviation is PS, the name “English Thoroughbred” being, in the eyes of purists, a redundancy.

An example:

In France the movie “Seabiscuit” was titled “Pur sang, la légende de Seabiscuit“

As Clarkson has pointed out, there’s a logical limit to the trend of taking parts *off* of supercars and then charging more for them. Eventually, he noted with derision, a gullible buyer (like Hammond) would pay millions of dollars extra in order to buy “No Porsche at all.”

That extra weight savings comes at a price: almost 100,000 Euros per pound. ‘Unobtainium’, indeed.

sang = blood

Oh those whacky Germans…

Has anybody checked wreckedexotics.com to see if there are any salvage cars available?